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j - '^'- 

‘N«to=lE‘oty Statt (ironbentfau. 

■V;' ■—■ 

Albany, Jwne 13.—At a Convention of Dele¬ 
gates from the several counties of the State of New 
York, pursuant to recommendations and elections 
of the friends of the present Administration of our 
National Government, held at the Capitol in the 
city of Albany,.on the 10th and lltli days of June, 
1828, for the purpose, among other things, of ex¬ 
pressing their sentiments upon, and devising mea- 
,sures relative to the approaching election of a 
President and Vice-President of the United States; 
one hundred and five delegates appeared and took 
their seats—and 


Alexander Coffin, of the county of Columbia, 
was chosen Piesident, and 

Peter Sharpe, of the city of New-York, and 
Robert S. Rose, of the county of Seneca, were 
appointed Secretaries. 

A Committee of Twelve, consisting of Ambrose 
Spencer, of the county of Albany, Gerrit Smith, 
of the county of Madison,' Edmund H. Pendleton, 
of the county of Dutchess, Charles H. Carroll, of 
the county of Livingston, Ellis Potter, of the city 
of New-Yorkj Montgomery Livingston, of the 
county of Saratoga, William Hildreth, of the 
county of Ontario, Jacob Haight, of the county of 
Greene, Charles H. Morrell, of the county of 
Tompkins/ Fosdic^, of the county of St, 



4 


valuable public character we have abroad,and there remains 
no doubt on my mind,that he will prove himself the a'>lest of 
our diplonaatic corps.” It will be recollected that our For— 
eig^n inisteis, at that period, were no less than Rufus King, 
Chief Justice Marshall, Charles C<»tcsworth Pinckney, and 
Elbridge Ge’ty 

The subsequc'it reputation and services of Mr. Adams rc‘ 
alized th bright promise of his youth. 

The honors with which “ the Father of his country” in¬ 
vested him, were increased at the hands of tt»e immortal 
Jt=ff-rrson ; and the estimation in widen he was held hy Ma¬ 
dison and Munroe best appeal s from the pre-eminent sta¬ 
tions which these venerable patriots assigned him, through¬ 
out their Administrations Comment is unnecessary on the 
fact, that these great and good men ail tokened their high 
esteem of Mr. Adams; and, that no one administration of 
our government has failed to seek the aid of his distinguish¬ 
ed abilities. The bare fact goes very far to vindicate his 
present elevation, and to outweigh, in every candid mind, 
all the invent.ons of malice against nis unsullied fame. 

We have thus adverted to some of the evidences of Mr. 
Adams’s fitness for hU great trust. But for these evidences 
surely, or others of a similar impoit, to establish his charac¬ 
ter as an honest and an able statesman, we could not bring 
ou-selves to recomm-nd t» you his re-election. It is not, 
how'-ver, on the ground of Mr. Adams’s manif st and ac¬ 
knowledged fitness to be President- that we most desire hi* 
re-election. Om this ground, there are other men who might 
be presented to you for the honor viith about as much propri¬ 
ety as Mr, Adams : for there are many others, who, if they 
do not pos.sess all (ne qualifications of Mr. Adams for this 
office are yc competent to discharge its duties with credit 
to themseh es, and usefulness t the Republic. 

Conceding this much, we owe h to you to state some of 
our strongest reason? for singling out.Mr. Adams, and urg¬ 
ing his re- lecti n. 

Itts not am »n^ these reasons, that Mr. Adams is a North¬ 
ern man. We disclaim all preference for him on this ac¬ 
count. In seeking for a President of the United States, we 
have the whole of the United States for the ransre of our 
sselection ; and no sectional partialities should interfere with 
our cboi e of he most suitable man, whether he be found in 
the North, in th- South, ui the East, oi in the West T at 
there is a community of p *cuiiar interest among t Noitu- 
ern States i.-* n *t to be ilenied, any inor than that the 
hand ol oaluie ‘las classed the Sout lern States together un¬ 
der other intf rests. With men of a selfish, culcuiatmg poli¬ 
cy such inter sts easi y ove come national attac ments ; 
but they caa never acquire a controlling influence over the 


{>aiiiiot, who lovps ‘‘his muntry, a dliis vvliole country.' 

I ho citizens of the United States compose one people, and 
they must bi-conie degenoiaie indeed, before local considera 
tions can break up that nni y into which (hey are drawn by 
the St long bands ofthe Fetleral Constitution—by the recoU 
le ction of their fathers’ and their own common suflerings— 
by the entertainment of the same glorious hopes — by lies, 
ill short, as immineralile as tlie precious interests and bles- 
« ngs of their common political state. If is in the spirit of 
the reasons which make us emphatically one peopl , that 
we declare ourselves as re ally to promote to the highest 
place in oar Government a suitable citizen of Louisiana or 
Ge. rgia, as such an one in rimnsylvania oi New Vork ; and, 
it is in th- same spirit that wc should ensent to be furnish' 
cd b\' Virginia witli all <>ur Piosiilenfs, pr-vidingshe had an 
endless'succession of Washingtons and Jeflersons. 

N r is it bpcau'c vv<; approbate tre general p* licy of Mr. 
Adams’s Adinini'iration, and Ijclieve ii to be consi'^teiitwith 
an i -npattial anil eniighlen'ul interiircti'tion of llie Federal 
Constitution, that we single him out foi your votes. There 
art? other men, under who.se Uresidency we should expect, 
if not a similar administration of the Government, one, ne¬ 
vertheless, not less intelligent tior just. T* at Mr. Adarag 
construes the Cons'i ution so favorably to the great cause of 
internal improvements, and the equally important cause of 
.Vmerican mauufactiir s, and t. at, in composing his cabinet, 
he made choice oi some of the most jiowerful a vocates of 
th ese cardinal interests, are indeed matters of felicitation 
to us ; but, they affoul no more ground for our selortlon of 
him than fo.- our selection of any oth< r distiuguished states- 
man, whose views, in regar l to' these o jects, are coincident 
with his own 

It is not, as we have saitl, (he personal litness of Mr 
Xdam.s to be our President, gieat as it is, and perhaps un- 
equalled, that mak< s it especially proper to re-el ct him. 
We repeat, that, in this single view of the subject, some one 
of the disiinguished statesmen, who rival him in wi.sdom and 
integrity, might, about aswrll. be made our President; But, 
it is in the nature of ciicum.«(ances, altogether foreign to his 
personal quaiilica'tions, that we find the great and conclusive 
arguments for his re-election. 

And, in tiie first place, we owe it to the Federal Constituo 
lion to re-elect Mr Adams. X’arty spirit has filled (he land 
with clamor against the r/g/if the House of Representatives 
had to elect him. Party men, not excepting legislators in 
the rofficial places, have gravely and argumentatively drawn 
this right in question. The grounds that are taken, in this 
loud denial of Mr, Adams’s rightful election, are, to the last 
degree, dishonorable and dangerous to tbe CoustilutioiSj 





6 


iaastnuch as they are calculated to strip the public iniutl of 
its accustomed an«l necessary respect for all the power«i of 
that venerated instrument. -This ptlack upon the Constitu¬ 
tion has alarmed its enlightened friends: and they have 
wisely jud^^ed, that they could offer no atonement to its de¬ 
rogated authority, which would be, at once, so appropriate 
and effectual, as the re-election of John Qoincy Adams. 

W. will briefly point out the disparagement and contempt 
of consldutional power of which, in this iostance, party spirit 
is guilty. 

In forming the federal constitution, the small States want-” 
«d all t;ic States to have equal power in the election <.f Pre¬ 
sident—Rhode Island ot D laware to be on a par with Vir¬ 
ginia or Massachusetts. J’he larger States, following their 
own counter-intererfs, prefeired to apportion the power, in 
this case, amongst the different States, on the scale o their 
relative population. A compromise ensued, and the consti¬ 
tution allows the people to mak<- a smgle attempt to rl. ct 
that officer ; and it devolves the eleciion, in case of the fail¬ 
ure of this attempt, upon the House of R<"pr- sentatived, in 
such manner as <o equalize the power of all the States in the 
election. The HMtse is confined in its choice to the candi¬ 
dates, not exceeding three, ho have received the highest 
number of electoral votes; atid it is perfectly free, in the eye 
of the constitution, to make him President wh * has received 
one hundred votes, or hi who has received but ten votes. 
Will It be said that the House must follow the expressions 
of the people, in their abortive trial to elect a President ? 
Thosfe who say so are justly chargeal>le, • ither with gross 
ignorance, or wilful d.sr gard of the spirit of the couisitu- 
lioii. If it be ti ue, that the House is bound to elect the can¬ 
didate, who, according to the electoral vole, stands highest 
in popular favor, then waere i.s the compromise between 
the small and toe large States, in this case ^ Then, where 
is the relief wh ch that compromise wasto secure to the small 
Btates against the exclusive popular principle, on which the 
large States preferred to base the election ? Ifthis be true, 
what of th^ir previous claims did the large States relinquish 
in this compromise 1 If t is compromise be thus emptied of 
all its meaning aud forc' , then is not all discretion in their 
choice of President virtually taken away from the House of 
Representatives 1 —and is ' ot their whole power in <his mat¬ 
ter, reduced to the little office of declaring him President 
who has thegreatest numb -r of electoral votes ? For illus¬ 
tration, we will suppose that the candidate receiving the 
one hundred vot s was supported, exclusively, by five or 
six of the largest States, and that no otb«-r candidate receiv¬ 
ed more than 20 votes : Now we insist thai the r presenta- 
Vvit of the small States, so far from being bound to ele^t 


7 


the favorite candidate of the large States, have, beyond all 
contr-tversy, in the con -ti u ionui compromise on this head, 
the power and the righl conceded to them of opposing the 
choice, and lo glecting f he popular exp< ession of tiie iai gc 
States, and of electing a other of the cand dates, who had 
net rece ived a fifth as many of the electoral votes 

We are aware that certain politicians will seek to impart 
an odious aspect to our exposition of this subject ; and will 
labor to h'tve you ascribe our views to sentiments of liostility 
to the principles «<f democracy It will he our suflirient 
answer t • such disjn renuousness, that we are on tlia side of 
toe constitution ;—and that, hard as it for our great State 
to be reduced to an equality with the small State of D» la' 
ware, in the election of a President, yet, as this is one of the 
requireinenis of the constitution, so we must brook it. Nor 
can we, in any way, more strongly evince our republicaoi'in 
than by an honest and fearless adh; r> nce t» every part of 
the constitution of our country :—and poor do we esteem 
that republicanism which, to subs* rve the ends of partt, i.s 
Corrupt enough to stir up popular prejudice against the legi¬ 
timate functions of tnat sacred instrument. It is tliis .sort 
of republicanism which has rai-ed tlie clamois against th ^ 
rigtitful choice of Mr. Adams. His re-elecfioh would not 
only redeem tl>e constitution from the disjjai agemenl of its 
authority by these clamors, but the State of New York, if 
she should contribute lo that le-election, would signify her 
peculiarly generous attaclinient to the constitution, inas¬ 
much as the disadvantages of ihe large Slates, in the elec¬ 
tion of President, press upon them each, proportionably to 
their repective population. 

It must be manifest from what has b*‘en said, that provi¬ 
ded Mr, Adams was confessedly tiie least popular of the 
candidates before the House of Representatives, still tlieir 
election (tfhim is borne owt by the spirit, as well as by the 
letter of the Constitution, But we will take you furitur 
in this subject to show you. that the opponents of Mr. 
Adams are guilty of a twofold unfairness on this head 
Their disrespect for the plain terms of tlie Constitution, in 
this case, is not their only ofleace :—We press them with the 
inquiry, whether their assumption of the fact, that Mr. 
Adams went into the House backed by a lr*ss popular sup¬ 
port than one of the other candidates, is not altogether gra¬ 
tuitous 1 We think it can be made to appear so to every 
candid mind. 

One hundred and thirty-one votes were necessary to an 
election. Gen. Jacksoh received ninty-nine votes—Mr. 
Adams eigty four—Mr, Crawford forty-one—-and Mr 
Clay thirty-seven. All that this shows, in bearing on the 
point before us> is that no other candidate wai the ^r.^i 


.•Ijoice of so many of (lie doctors, as General Jackson. We 
can make no inference from the vote, as it was, what it 
w’ou'd have been, had tlie electors been liniiied in (heir 
choice to General Jackson and Mr Adams. And, even if 
we coul<1 ascertain this fact, yet it would not answer onr. 
inqniry, wuich of them was most the man of the People. 
For this, we need to go back to the popular expressions on 
(his subject : and (he facts we shall meet with tliere, are far 
fromJiistif)'ing the reiterated charge, that Mr. Adams was 
Jess the man of the Peojde, at the last Ptesiiieritial electioo. 
(han General Jai kson. 

First—* The popular vote in nine of the States, was 
stronger for Mr. Adams than for any other candidale' 
whilst, in eight only of the States was it stronger for Gen. 
Jackson than for any other candidate. 

Second—-In the popular vote of tw’rlve of tlic State.s, 
Adams stood ahead of Jackson ; whilst it was in (• n StatcH 
only that Jackson surpassed him, in the same kind of vote. 

Tliird—A fact still more worthy ofnote is, that (he Klcc- 
{oral vote of every Stale was at least as favorable for .Jack- 
son, as its popular vote—and moreover, that, in three of tlie 
States, he carried the votes of the Eicctoi s. notw’ii hst.m ting 
that in each of these State’s the ;7o/;u/ar expression was for 
Adams over him. . 

Fourth—A fact, equally deserving of your heed, is that 
the electoral vote of no State was given for Adams in oppo- 
sition to the expressed will of the people of (he State. 

Fifth—The aggregate of the popular vnics giv n for .Mr. 
-Adams throughout (he Union, very far exceeds that of the 
votes of Gen. Jackson. 

Sixth—Add to tln se facts, (hat sixty-two of Jackson’s 
ninety-nine votes were from Slave States, and Uiat such 
States gave Mr. Adams hut six votes :—Add, loo, what, at 
least, every iVdri/icrn freeman must feel the foice of, that 
eleven of these sixty-two votes were the electoral represen 
tation of slaves merely, and we ask who will repeat, in the 
face of such testimony, that Mr. Adams wa.s elected again.sl 
the will of the People ! 

We have tlms presented to, you one of the expedients 
employed by the opponents of the Administralion lo render 
it unpopular : an expedient, we may safely say, dictaied 
neither by a love of truth nor by reverence for the Constl 
tution. 

It would have been more in order to have stated, previ¬ 
ously to examining any one of the schemes for p. ejudicing 
the public mind against the Administration, tbat our strong- 

* The popular vote of Missouri is not taken into the 
^tccount, because not Hnown by us. 




9 


iJesire for the re-election of Mr. Adams springs mainly iVoh* 
the nature of the means resorted to to prevent it; an<)-froin 
our sincere belief, that it vitally concerns our country to 
achieve such a conclusive triumph over these means, as the 
re-election of Mr. Adams would evidently b®;. VVe have 
dwelt sulilciendy on the nature of one of these means ; and 
will now pass to another, that not less imperiously demands 
your discountenance aud reprobation. 

Whilst they render a great and meritorious service to 
their country, who expose the corruptions of her iniquitous 
and profligate ru'ers ; such, on the other hand, as succeed 
ill detaching public favor from the upright ackninistrators of 
her government, by misrepresenting and calumniating inem 
deserve to full under the everlasti sg reproach of the couu-. 
try they so deeply injure. Of a republican people, at least, 
it inaj be safely said, that they never realize benefits,^from 
tlieir goveinment in any greater proportion than they have 
confldeiice in that government : for of their government, it 
is emphatically true, that it is strong or feeble, capable ojr 
incapable, uf rendering good, accordingly as it is or is not 
sustained by the public confidence. As you undermine that 
confidence, the government, which breathed it, languishes 
for its vital air. Destroy that confidence utterly, and you 
lifive compassed the destiuclion of the valuable ends of the 
government. It now no longer answers its great design, iu 
performing the uffice of a healthful and vigorous organ of 
the public will. It has fallen a victim to that will. The 
name and the form of the government may indeed survive 
for a time, and the mere name and lifeless form may protect 
its subjects from many of the evils of open anarchy: But 
the animating impulses of public confidence must be restored 
to it before it can again yield the great benefits which civil 
governuieat is capable of yielding,—for which it was insti¬ 
tuted,—and on account of which it so justly ranks amongst 
the richest eartbl)' blessings. 

Such reflections naturally arise in view of the efforts that 
are made to destroy the confidence of the People of the U. 
States iu the integrity of their President and Secretary of 
State ; ai#l such reflections establish the truth, that, so far 
as these eflbris are successful, they must render our govern- 
me it, uuiler its present Adminisu'ation, ineflicient and un¬ 
productive of the great good it is capable of, when sustained 
by tile public confidence. Tosav nothing, therefore, of the 
wrongs which thus ' malicious efforts do to Mr. Adams and 
Mr. Clay ; to say nothing of their sufferings under them ;— 
fur even the sl.ieldof coiisci >us r 'Ctiuide is not proof against 
ail the stings of the slanderer,—y t, how great is the public 
oflfeuce in tliis case ; and, to the extent they are accrei'ited, 




10 


iiow bmie('el to the hest interests of tlie nation are tlio'c- 
calinniiioHs accnsniions of her Rulers 1 

Persuade this people that Mr. Adams ami Mr. Clay are 
corrupt, and what measure of the" Tldministration will not 
fa!! under their suspicion, and be partially if not totally 
defeated by it ? A public jealousy, far other tiian a whole¬ 
some vig^ilance to the interests of the Republic, will then 
cioi^Iy pursue and hamper every step of the govcrnmetit; 
construing flje most intelligent, pure, and [lutrtotin measure's 
iuio schemes of selfiihno^g. Indeed, it is already boosted, 
ami that too on tlte floor of Congress, that tlie jnesent 
Aflininistrators of our girvermnent have become twO o<lions 
to discharge theii official duti s ; and fliat titey ate incapa¬ 
ble ofcarrying on the government much lonoer against llio 
general and growing p r-uasi n that they acipured their 
power corruptly. 

Hut, whilst we perceive no evidences of such n calamitous 
state of tilings; whilst the steady progress of the Adminis¬ 
tration .and the general pro-perity forbid the siij)position 
that it exists;—!el us ask, who, in case these evds. so u >pa- 
triotically exulted m, had leally befallen onr country, woidd 
be blameworthy and acountable for them ? Would it be 
Mr. Adams and Mr. Clay, or their wicked slander rs ? Mr. 
Adam? and Mr. Clay now <>tand fully acquitted of the charge 
of bargaining for their places. All the calumnies that have 
been heaped upon these ge* tleinen in this matter—the 
whole range and vari ty oftijem,—from the lips and pen of 
Gen. Jackson himselfdown to the most scuirillous versiong 
of them with which the hireling presses of the Opposition 
still continue to teem, are now completely refuted and put 
down forever.—Woidd it be the f^ault of Mr. Adams and 
Mr. Clay, .then, if these calumnies had destroyed public 
confidence in them s® extensively as to render them inca¬ 
pable of administering the government ?—or would it not 
rather be the fault of those who invented and propagated 
these caliimnif s ?—of those whose political hate, unparal- 
Irled, at least in the annals ofou' owu conoiry. has adopted 
the blasphemous motto that "The present administrators of 
onr governmetit must be put down, thongu they^o pure as 
tiie angels at the right hand of the tli.one of God.” 

iJcsiiies that w'e should extend this paper to an unsuila- 
bie length by going into all the evidences of the falsi'y of 
tlieaccus.'itions against Mr. Adams and Mr. Cl.iy>lhe pohlic 
ari'so familiar with the many ample vindicalions uf im'.s.; 
gentlemen, that have been published, as to make such a la¬ 
bor, at our hands, totally unnecessary We would have all 
our constituents examine the • videnses in this matti-r, so as 
to ac.surc themselves, (hat the accust^rs of Mr. Adams and 
Mr. Clay have not only failed to sultstauliatc tiivir chirges ; 


ll 


that tilth- charges not only remain unpvovenand utterly uu 
Kuscei>tible of [iioof, hut that they are, contrary to the usual 
iiiahility of slandered innocence t» do ro, actually disproved 
arul sent hack to lodgt* nj;ion the heads of General Jackso.i - 
and his feliosv calumniators. 

Probably som of ouv constituents have not examined tlie 
ilociiinGnts in this case, anil may never have the leisure or 
inclinaiion (o do so. Tosucii we put the question, wliethn' 
a candid view of the circumstances of the case does not in c' 
ch.uie all reasonable suspicions of any collusion betwe*?u 
Mr. Adams and Air. Clay ? The alternative presented to 
Mr. Clay, under the very frcbU- state of i\lr. Crawford's 
h'feaUli, was to vote for Mr. .Adams or for General .Jackson 
If we refer to Mr. Clay’.'- unifoirn opinions of Gen. Jackson, 
he coid'I not certainly, as an honest m.in, have voteil fur 
him: If we refer to his free and public disclosures of these 
opinions, he must not only have been dishonest, but singu- 
lariy unaujbitious of a reputation for consistency, to have 
voted for him. Even on the floor of Congress, Air. Clay 
had not shrunk fiom the responsibility of e.xipressiiig his 
opinions of Gen. .Jackson. There, in theears of the nation, 
he had, years bef <re, declared the e.xecution of Ambristcr 
and ArbiiUmot tnurd&rous —and th re lie published hi.s ab^ 
ho;r nee of the lawless tyrant who directed that execution. 
Indeed Gen. Jackson had for years refused to spe.ik to ATr. 
Clay, so strong was his resentment towards him for his faith¬ 
ful and fearless censures of bis lawless and barbarous con¬ 
duct in the Seminole war. But Mr. Clay’s calumniators, 
although const!ained to acknowledge that the opi.iions be 
had uniformly entertained of General Jackson, were very 
unfavorabie, maintain still, tnat he shou'd, notwithstanding 
those opinions, have voted for him. The sympathies of 
Kentucky with the Western candidate, say they,—h^r deep 
interest in his election,—and, more than all, her expres.sed 
wislies for if,—made it the duty of Mr. Clay to vote for Gen. 
Ja kson. Here,\say 'hey, were consi'lcrations paramount 
In their nature to any others that could projierly influence 
his vote ; an<l in these, they insist, he should have merged all 
his sense of the utter disq'ianiications of the General for the 
place he aspired to ; all his abhorrence of the General’s pub¬ 
lic and private character. Our fir.st reply to these claims of 
Mr. Clay’s vote for General Jacktnn is, that we nave no 
proper evidence that th(^ State of Kentucky desired his elec¬ 
tion, The Legislature of Jiat Staie did, indeed, express its 
preference o^ the General, as the Legislature of this State 
also has recently presumed to do : the one as unauthprizedly 
as the other,—•for, in neither instance, were the members of 
these Legislatures elected for this purpose,—for a proceed¬ 
ing so utterly iaconsistent with the purity and dignity of 






12 


Iheir oftice. Li both instances did they prostituie the autho 
rity of their office t . further a part-, scheme, which, certain¬ 
ly, had no legitimate connexion with the duti>’9and objects 
of • hat office,; in both instanct f», too, was this done in the 
spirit of usurpation ; the more flagrant, indeed, in the case 
of oor own Legislature, inasmuclt as the people of this State 
had, so reci-ntly. procIJiinied from the ballot boxt'S, that 
their Legislature should nb more have a part i.i the election 
of President The members of our Lr-gi'lafure, in noroi- 
nating General Jackson, did not, indeed,violate tne letter of 
a y law : but, in attempting to forestall, by their official 
ma date, the sp /ntaneousness of the popular choice ; in 
atti^m;)ting to reduce th sovereign people to the mere 
couutersigners of that maodate, they betrayed, not only 
their contempt of the rights of the people, but their total 
disrespect for the spirit of the laws enacted to secure those 
rights. 

But, to return from this digression, to the subject be¬ 
fore us:—we ask. can any substantial evidence be ad¬ 
duced, that Kentucky was opposed to the vote Mr, Cla}’’ 
gave for Mr. Adams ? Such evidence did not appear, 
certainly, in the last congressional elections of that Siate, 
in which the aggregate of Administration votes exceedrtl 
the opposing number by several thousands. Nor does such 
evidence appear from the strong probability that the votes 
of Kentucky, at her next election, will still more triumph¬ 
antly vindicate her favorite son. Such evidence is not to 
be found in the present legislature of that State, which is 
decidedly in favor of the general Administration ; and 
which has, by a solemn act, acquitted Mr. Clay’s vote for 
Mr. Adams of all the blame imputed to it. Nor have we 
any such evidences of the sectional partialities of Kentuckj , 
as to justify the suspicion, that she would make any sacrifi¬ 
ces of principle, or betray any lack of national spirit, for the 
sake of having a western President. Kentucky is among the 
patriotic States that go for the whole Union. She has never 
raised the standard of rebellion, when the policy of the na- 
tioi! has pressed upon her local interests. Harder still, and 
infinitely harder, may that policy press on her—and she will 
never echo to the miscreant cries in other States, that “ it 
is time to count the value of the Union.” Her citizen sol¬ 
diers, animated by the love of their whole country, have 
gone thousands of miles from their homes to defend the 
rights of that country They have marched to its distant 
extremities to shed their blood in testimony of their enlarge 
ed patriotism and attachment to the Republic. They would 
do sb again, at the call of duty,—and even if they fore¬ 
knew that another ill tempered commander would rei^atd 
their bravery with the stigma of cowardice^ 


13 


But were it possible to believe that Kentucky could be 
swayed by the nariow mind-d considerations nnput. i to 
her in this matter, yet, how nnreasotiabic* is the sU)*position 
ts at the expanded miwd ot* Henry Clay could be su jecied 
fo them? What in the character of this enligSteoed patriot 
authorizes?—what in it permits the suppo^jtlon. that siicli a 
bbtotted attachment to his own section of t ie Union reigns^ 
in I'ini, as to secure his vote Cr the Wesiei n candidate 
against the force of all hon»’st considerations ; and to make 
^ n nothing short of bribery that conl.t induce his unnatural 
support of the candidate residing at the North? We Ita i 
tliought Mr. Clay one of the last men to sutler the location 
of the candidate for the Piesid. ncy to influence hisvote. 
We had thought that if there was any one man in the. natiuu 
more free than all others of local prejudices and sectional 
partialities, it was Henry Clay. Least of all were we pre¬ 
pared to believe that he, who is so remarkable, so prover¬ 
bial, for his sensitiveness under every attack upon the inte.'- 
ests or honor of his country ; who has stood by th..t countiy 
in peace and in war—in her peiil as in her pi'osperity—and 
made lieran everlasting debtor to his matchless eloquence; 
that he who is the foremost advocate of that great system ol 
internal impiovements and home indiisfiy, which extends 
its heneficial regards, without partiality, to every portion of 
our common country:—least ofalt,wc say.weie we prepared 
to believe, that a man of such difl'usive patriotism would, iii 
spite of all po.-sibie objections to the candidate, feel constrain* 
eti to vote for him, merely because he lived in the same sec¬ 
tion of the Union w ith himself Such narrow mindedness— 
such nieriiiness, corresponds with the too cummchi patriot¬ 
ism which is hounded liy iis own sordid intere.st*; but it will 
never alloy the generous spirit of tienry Clay ; it will never 
disgrace that universal and char->cteristic philanthropy—> 
that holy zeal for the right,'! of man, which, at one time, is 
seen encompassing the struggling co'onists in the South, and 
bearing them on the tide ol eloquence into favor with our 
national councils; which, at another time, pleads the cause 
of suffering Greece; and w tiich, at this moment, is animat¬ 
ing »he merciful elTorts that are making to colonize our 
emancipated blacks on the coast of Africa, and to kindle up 
there those tires of civil and religious libt rty which are soon 
to blaze over that benighted land To say, that such a mao, 
in casting his vote for a Presid nt of tli‘ Uni,* d 3 ates, would 
look merely ..t the location of the candidate, is to belie the 
elevated constitution ofhis mind, and the whole character of 
his life. No, Mr. Clay did not need a br he to ov rcome his 
deter mination to supf>o»tnone but a "vestein candidate for 
the Presi-ency ;—for his mind is incapable of entertaining 
such a base deterjuiuatioQ. Stilly he was bribed to vote fov 
B 







14 


Mv. AJams, repeat Ij's calumniators, and they point out tne 
biioe in Air. Atlams's nonxination of him to the office of 
:5ecretarv of State. So far from the circumstances ot the 
case permitting us to construe this nomination into a bribe, 
_ we put it to candor, whether these circumstances, including 
h especially 'the long sul)sisting mutual dislike of Gen. Jack- 
tl Son and Mr. Clay, would not have made Air. Clay’s vote An* 
of General Jackson the groiunl of a far more colorable charge 
ne against his integrity than they make his vote for Mr. Adams 
r to be ? 

T But even on the supposition that a bribe was necessary 
to induce Mr. Clay to withhold his sulViage, from the West¬ 
ern ca'niMat^-, and applying to this case the pre-eminently 
liuellous maxim, that every man has his price,” still, all 
^ will allow, that the bribe and the price, in this instance, 
must needs l>e great. Air. Clay, at the time in question, fill¬ 
ed as large a space in the public eye, and was as much the 
object of admiration as any man in America. He was thena 
exerting his accustomed and unrivalled iuiluence in our Na¬ 
tion Legislature. 

Mr. Clay lias never discovered any avidity for office. 
Under one Administration he dtdined the Mission to Russia, 
and the Department of War ; and under the succeeding Ad¬ 
ministration, rehised to aci-ejtt the same Department, the 
Mis?,!on to Fmglaiul, or, his choi/'e of any ether Foreign il/w- 
sion. Judge th-n, fellow citizens, whether a place in tl»e 
cabinet of Mr. Adarins—-whether any place in the gift of any 
or all of the Powers,, at the City of Washington, could equaiJ 
the [n ice at wijich Henry Clay would hold liimself. 

The triumph ofthe.se etVortsto undermine the confidence of 
the people in the iniegriyv of Mr. Adams and Mr. Clay, 
would certaiftl'5’^^cou,siitn!e an abirming feature in thesuccess 
of the Oppositfon ; and to piovent that liiumph is one very 
imporlaut ohjrift to be gained by the re elrction of Air. 
Adams. 'J im .srinideis that alienate public confulcace from 
Mm .Vilminisirators of llie National travernment, when thess* 
Administrators are deserving of that confidence, do, as w? 
nave already said, a great injury t.> the country, inasmuclii 
as, without that confidence, the Government cannot be cat*- 
ried odt into the fulness of its beneficial operations. But a 
moi;e extended view of the effects of those slanders, exliibits 
dangers still more appalling. The individuals against whom 
they are directed, as they are among the great men of their 
country, so they form a portion of the must precious species 
of her property. It is a very grovelling and inadequate 
computation of the wealth and resources of our eountiy, 
which does not extend beyond her acres, her dollais, her 
commerce and her manufactures. Her great men, to wt-iom 
she has given birth, and whose minds have been fashioned 


under liei* institutions^ rtf6 worth them all. She is. lu tin- 
highest sense, v’ich or poor, as she abounds, or comes short 
in th^Sr. The master spit its, who direct fier energies, anti 
Impress the grandeur of their own souU upon her ; to whom, 
most of nil, she is ind»*bted for b^r prosperity at home, ami 
for the honor she has abroad ^ these, however, estimated uy 
their cot'loporary countrymen, w ill ever assume in ihe fves 
©f other nations, and on the page ot history, the rank cf her 
most valuable possessions. Of these the Genius of our Ue- 
public might well say, in the language of the Roman ma¬ 
tron, pointing to iter sons:—“ They are my Jewels.” 

^Ve cannot pi ize too highly, we canniJt chcris too care¬ 
fully, the distinguislied servants of our country. If, in the 
.Tn*'morab! struggle ol’ our fathers, when all eyes lo >ked foe 
deliverance to t>‘.e wisdom and aulhorit}'ofour Washingt ns, 
and Frai.klins and Adams, those great men had fallen vic- 
i iins to slander, and lost the confidence of their countrymen, 
the hopes of freedom would iiave perished. Our country 
may be called to pass through as gloomy periods,—through 
as thickly clustering dangers as any from which she has 
emerged. A time may come when our armies shall melt 
away before the invader—when the enemy shall ride in 
triumph along our coasts—when all jihall seem about to be 
lost:—In the perils and despair of such a crisis, the memory 
of those immortal patriots, “ whose spii its rule us from their 
urns,” united to the efforts of the chosen few on whom their 
mantles shall have fallen, may yet rally our dispirited coun¬ 
try, and redeem her from imp nding ruin. 

The great men of any country are of incalculable value to 
her;—not merely they that live;—for in the memory of her 
departed worthier also, she has a “ strong tower.” V\ hat, 
30 much as the great names that adorn her annals, has in¬ 
spired Greece to assert her lit)erty ? What, so much as hei 
departed heroes, “ bending from their elevated seats, to 
witness this contest,” and the spirit of those heroes p')ured 
into the hearts of her liviug childreur—cheers her onward 
through her unparalleled sufferings ? Nothing attaches a 
people to their countrv so much, as the great natiit-s tiiat 
shine along the track of her history ; and nothing makes 
them so anxious to preserve the transmitted li erties and 
blessings of their country, as the holy character gi'ven to 
them by those names 

If such reflections arc just, then they do infinite harm to 
their country, who seek to cheapen and destroy her great 
roeil in public opinion ; then tlie Iraducers of such men as 
John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay, are more to be d ead 
ed than the pirate on our coasts or the hostile savage on oni 
frontier. Let the slanderer succeed in convincing the Ame 
ticao people, that the long admired patriolistn ol Mr. Adjum, 



andMr Clny;—thnt <lie shining- train of their public set 
vices IS aU resolvable into sciu'ir.es of selnxbnpss; and it 
vvoulil s em ver^ <'a.'-y to subject to the public scepticism the 
cb rished \v.>rth of any ofour i-niiiieot statesmen Caluinnjr 
would ne d to aciiieve but tew more such victories to stiip 
our national councils of the public confidence, and our great 
men of thei* inlluence ; to dislieartcn them who are in the 
ways to commence; and, in shoit, to make emintne- itself, 
and intell' c uai superios ity, almost synonimous with selfish- 
n ss and corruption. Whew such a jealousy of our distia- 
guished > rvants shall pervade the nation, thry will be usc- 
le>^s I • her, for teis jeaIou-;y will render th> in incapable of 
serving hei. Bur ihiS jealousy wili accomfilish more. The 
desiie -f distinction will wit 'er und<^r it. Ftw, if any, will 
choose to e icoun er it ; and the history ofour country henee- 
fonvard, will be as barren of great men, as hitherto it has 
been fruitful in them. 

By ail then, that is precious to our dislingnished men in 
their f lir fame ; by all that is precious to the nation in that 
fame ; by h|I the glorious hopes, that open our belove«t 
countty ; and. which brighten or fade, as she cherishes or 
cheapnch her eminent citizens;—by such consid'-rations 
do we pray, tliai these fcul attacks on Mr. Adams and Mr, 
Clay mav not prevail, but that they may recoil with vin- 
dict ve ruin on the hopes of the slanderers who make them. 
In such a result, how powerful a lesson would there be to 
deter profligate politicians from making havoc of the e.ral- 
ted worth w ich stands in the way of their schemes !—And 
how cheering an evidence would there be in it, that the 
discer. meat atid vn tuous sensibilities of the American 
people will sustain their faitliful servants against all the raa- 
chiiiaoons of calumniators ! 

In the most depraved and violent political parties, we 
have still looked for a little patriotism; a little of that inbred 
love of‘ ountry, which, in the absence of all other restraining- 
principles, w’ould se* ». nits to their selfish efforts for p.<wer. 
But we are constraineil to say. and we sav it in unaffected 
sorrow, that in tlip partV ar'-ay ed a'ainst the Administra¬ 
tion, tin re ar no visibb- remains of tiiis redeeming principle 
to sooth our aianns. This party suffers norestraints ; and 
succ ss has hrcome so paramount, so exclusive a conside¬ 
ration with it, bat it hesitates at no sacrifice® of the public 
good to ;oomotc it. Means are unsc; iijiukiusly employed 
to secure this success, which II ng into jeopardy and ■ xpose 
to spe dy ruin 'he most precious interests of the Republic; 
mea s, with .1,that outia.reand coiitenin those sentiments 
of virtue and pi t , in whi. h lay th * only sure foundations 
and from wiiich ate erivod the most constant and e-fiicient 
support of all /rce govennnciits;—and which, after our full 




experience and estimation of their temporal benetiis, arc 
worth more than all this wo«l(l,'to such asderidi then). 

Weconfes.s, chat we are speaking in stroiig language ol' 
the conduct of our opponents :—but, do not the attempts to 
impeach the rightfiilncss of Mr. Adams’s election, and liio 
integrity of both Mt. Adams and Mr. Clay, in the matter 
of it, authorize the use of such language ? tVe believe, in 
our hearts, that they do :—But, if there be any who think 
ns guilty of exaggeration : we entreat suci) particularity to 
follow us through a brief examination of one otiter expedi¬ 
ent, which is resorted to, to prostrate the Administration, 
If you shall look on this expedient with any thing like the 
measure of alarm and abhorrence we do, you will d‘^j)recate 
the overthrow of the Adiniuisti atiou, on no account so much, 
as for the agency of such a measure in actomplistiing it : 
and all the other evils of that caiaimtous event will not be 
as dreadful to you, as the triumphs winch would crown this 
expedient. 

The opponents of the Administration, despairing of sue- 
cey to their cause by any appeals it can make to the sober 
judgmeat of the people ; and withal, di.strusiing the suffi¬ 
ciency of their cunning falsehoods to work this .success, are 
seeking to associate and even to identify tiiat unrighteous 
cause with the military glory of the nation ; and .'.re busily 
invoking to its aid the popular enthusiasm,which that spirit- 
stiring subject is so capable ofexciting it is with this object, 
and this only,that they have selected Andrew Jackson /or fh.' 
candidate against Mr. Adams We fear not t<j submit it to 
the candor of all men, whether this nomination of General 
Jackson is susceptible of any other explanation than tliat 
we have here given it ;—whether it could have proceeded 
from any other motives than the single one we have here 
ascribed it to. We fear not to ask any of our constituents, 
whether it is for Andrew Jackson the Statesman or for An¬ 
drew Jackson the Soldier, that they find their votes solici¬ 
ted ;—whether the trumpeters of tlie General’s merits de¬ 
sire dispassionate comparisons of the fitness of the two men 
for civil office, or, whether they are not iuces-aotly display¬ 
ing their Hero to the passions and imaginauoo, so as most 
effectually to swell the tide of popular admiration, on which 
the Victor of New Orleans is bearing down the unobtrusive 
and noiseless merits of Mr. Adams. “ Our em mi s them¬ 
selves being judges,” the |nomination of General Jackson 
has not proceeded from any sense of his fitness to be 
President; for the leaders of the party, opposed to the 
Administration, before submitting to the necessity of taking 
him up, and whilst they were free to speak of him, as they 
thought, expressly classed his election amongst the gn atest 
-carsea that could befal our country. Wo need not go into 
-* 





18 


■aU the particulars that would makr up%e completest^proof 
of the truth of this assertion.—A reference to the hies of 
some of the newspaijers which ate ihe prominent organs of 
this party will sufficiency establish it. The newspapers 
of this class, with wiiicii the pt-opK* of this State are most 
tamiliar, are the “ Richmond Enquirer,'’ “ New York 
Evening Po.st,” and “ Albany Argus.”—We do not refer 
to those papers to expose the inconsistencies of their editors. 
That would be beneath the dignity of this Cotivention. But, 
inasmuch as these papers are the channels through which 
Ihe leaders of the opposition have elected to communicate 
with the public minu, they are certainly useful records of 
Ihe rt.markable changes experienced by those leaders, 
't hose mercenary I'apers have changed with their masters:; 
and their columns now are ns crowded with the praises oC 
fienera! Jackson, as, but four ycais ago, they weie with the 
reproaches and denunciations of him. In how little favor 
the General stood wit . these papers at that time is mauife^ 
from such paragraphs as the loilowing • 

" We cannot consent,” sa\s the Richmond Enquirer, ^tr- 
Itnd a hand towards the election of such a Boan as General 
Jackson. He is too lit'le of a statesman—too rash—too vio 
lent in his temper —his meusines too much inclined to arbi 
trary govi rnment, to obtain the humble support of the 
editors of this paper. Wt would dcprcculo his ekclion as p 
CURSE UPON OUR COUNTRY. 

‘'General Jackson,” says the New Yoik Evening roijf, 
“from the moment he was entrusted witli command, ha?- 
avowedly and systemmaticaliy made his own will and p ca- 
suie the sole rulo and guide of all his actions.” He “lias 
suspended tt e executive, legislative and judicial functioip^ 
with military sway. He has insulted the Executiv*- of tin 
United States ; spurned its authority ; tlisiegauled and 
transcended its orders. He has wsuip. d (he higii preroga 
five of peace and war, entrusted by all natiotis to the sovt 
reign power of the State ; and by our Constitution tu 
Congress alone 1 He has' abrogated the known laws oi 
nations, and promulgated a new coib* of his own ; conefeiv-? 
yd in madness or folly, and written in blood ! He has, in 
dne, violated all laws human and divine.” The samepaper, 
after stating that General JacKson ‘‘Ordered (he unhappy 
Ambrister to instant execution, without ;^iiy sentence at all,” 
adds, "In doing so, I assert he committed in the eye ol the 
law of his country. Murder with malice prepense.” 

The columns of the Albany Atgus sum up tlieir objections 
to General Jackson in the conclusion dial, " He stands, in 
the minds of the people of this State, at an immeasurable- 
distance from the Executive chair that, ‘‘ his httbii.\ 
ffoul bis politics, arc jut7c too summary for tbrl/* 




ft is obvious then, %vha{cver may now he pretomliCft to the 
contrary, tiiat GeneralJackson has not bem, brou«!)l for¬ 
ward for ll>e Fresidency, on tfie score of his fituess fi»r it,. 
The charinsof asnccessfid soldier are relied on to c^p'ivate 
our imagiuutioas and to hide t >e want of tint fitiiess : and 
his disiitiguished services to his country are to make their 
irresistible appeal to <.iu- gratitude for the highest »ewarci 
we could confer on hinj. 

If is, in short, to recompense his part in the defence of 
New Orleans, that «e are called on to make General J .ck- 
son President; for it was on that ocrasioa t'.at Ids character 
acquired all the splendor wldch rnakes him so imposing a 
candidate for popular honors. .To o le, iadee.l, presumes 
to say, tliat GeneralJackson would ever have b eii tlrougiit 
of as PiCsident but for the vicloiy of New Orleans. 1 
glories of that victory comprise all his pr. tensions to the 
honor. 

Such, then, is fh« candidate for President, supported 
by the Opposition: a noau wh >, coufesscdly, from th.* ii,fS 
?iod presses of their own leaders., is utterly unquahfn d for 
^le oflicc, and altogether the most dangerou.v man that can 
he placed iu it. Here, too, is the further expedient to i>ver- 
llirovv the Administration to whiclj we last invited your a(- 
• ntion; which dcservi s your uinn asnred reprehension, 
ami which, by ail the love you bear your country, you must 
defeat. 

To associate in the band of a brilliant and elevated sol¬ 
dier, ;v!)o has nrver exhibited tl>e qualifications of an enu- 
sent statesman, the highest civil power of the nation wiih 
i-ftc still greater power of his military glory, is, certainly, to 
iieglcct and dc<pi*e tlte verdict of experience and the voice 
*ff history^ Tin's union has acceb rated the ruin of eveiy 
.t^.epublic that has prcc ded us.—-The pub.hc safely is so 
ueeply intereettd in confining the ambitious soldier within 
the liuiits of his usefulness, as to require us to make his pro¬ 
fession, and the utmost success in it, altogether foreign to 
ihe ways and means of civd preferment. Least of all can 
wc tolerate the idea, which is now so Sedulously inculcated, 
that the Presidency of the nation is a suitable reward for 
distingtiished military services ; and that General Jackson, 
for his part in the defence of New Orleans, richly merits i(. 
We conjure you_ fellow-citizens, do not so cheapen this ho¬ 
nor. It is the greatest that mortal hands were ever permit- 
led to bestow. It is too precious to weave in the garland of 
any soldier. Keep it for such virtuous statesmen and sol¬ 
diers as you have hitherto adorned with it. Winn military 
merit has once bought it, it will have lost all it* worth. It 
will then have fallen into the same process of degradation 
which reduced the sovereignty, of Imperial Rome to the 



■mere game and plaything of her successful and arabitiou* 
Generals, 

Oil this subject of filling your highest civil office with a 
military man, what lan:»nag(" can we hold to you, that 
will, at once,be so instructive and enforce itself with so high 
authority, as Thomas JetTerson’s ^ Th* w ords of his political 
wisdom, to every geiniine and intelligent Hepublican, are 
“ like apiib's of g-dd m pictures of silver.” Tins great 
Apostle of Repuhlicanism, after t!ie last presidential elec- 
lion, addressing himself to several geiulemen, including his 
iniiinate friend. Governor Coles, said, “ that during a long 
public life he li d attentively watched the progress of events 
in the Uniieil Slates, wi»:i th. paiticnlar view of satisfying 
his mind lhai mankind were competent to self government, 
to believe which his principles inclined him; and that dtit> 
ing Ins whole political oi servation. tlie disposition of the 
Amcfican people to elect Gcmcral Jackson Fiesirleuf, was 
the single circumstance that had shaken iiis fait h, and made 
him fear that the Amej icao IT public was soon to follow tlie 
fate of all otiiers, and to fall under military rule.” 

The great and boasted argument, then, (or the election of 
General Jacks "n,'fouiidd on bis splendid inilitaty a hiev •- 
ments, gives way b^d'ore the obvious conclusion, that his 
maitial fame, so far from entitling him to tiiC Presidenev, 
would make l.im, in ll.e absence of conspicuous civil qualT 
fications, a peculiarly unsafe dcpesitaiy i f its extensive 
powers. We surely’ do Genera! J.ickson no wrong in deny¬ 
ing biin such qualificatimisi—fur, in the first place, is he a i 
scholar? Foolhardiness alone can pretend tliat he is, after ^ 
all the irresis;ihle evidences wiiich the public have to tiie 
contrary'. In (hv next place, has General Jackson ever 
been uum .ered amongst tlie statesmen of our country ? 

JN' ver. llis warntest admirers.no more claim for him the 
character of a staiesman than they attempt to conceal the 
gross deficiencies of his education. And yet it is said that 
the General has merits for the Presidency, which overbal¬ 
ance all the objections to him on account of his illiterafc- 
fiess. These merits lie wholly ie his sword; and. with bar. 
barian exultation, we are told, that, if ire cannot write, he 
can at le^st tnake his mark. Thus dots the.successful sword 
of General J,ickson,as promptly as that of the haughty 
Brennus, put to silence and outweigii all objections to him. 

And shall we, fellow’ citizens, elevate to the office, which, 
more than any other in tiie whole world, needs to be filled 
by a statesman and a scholar, the man whose illiterateness 
removes him so far from the character of either? Ob, how- 
much would this d.'grade our republic in the eyes of the 
world! How extensively would it react on the widespread 
and growing opinion, that man is capable of self govern. 




mcnt! Tlnw {Vi^paragiii^ to tho causp o^' Icarnii.g, that Van'*’ 
dal bravery s ou <1 fiius >ucr;'e ' in iisn'’piiig the hnnor*: ap- 
propriat. a cl px culiui to pol shed inlelb’ct ! H -w unhappy 
'k*oM!<l l>e th iiilltipnce of s.ich a victory on the jif’icific poli¬ 
cy of our conncry ! What i ceiitivcs vvould onr vont gafher 
from ft fur >h a quisition of ma' tial g’ory ! How powerful¬ 
ly would such an exanrnic invite ambitioia to enter the mill 
tary pathway after the civil honots of our country !—to 
abanhon the oil of 1 arning—t'le lucuhraton^ of many 
years — l*y which these horrors have liitlrevto been sorrglit, to 
earn them summarily and gloriously on the tialth’ fiold. 

We pass to the moral citaiacter of General .1 *cU#on—in 
which we are to h ok for and to requ're iiiauy of th*’ nrost 
essential qualincafi ns of a Pi'esident, A new doctrine is 
coming info vo u'-, under the nomination of General Jack- 
son. It is, that the j)rivate character of a candidate for 
i)dice is sacied from all investigation, and that, whafevec 
may have been his c imes, so that hey were not committed 
in the public servic ’, they are not to hind *r bis promotion to 
office. Sur ly nothing .shor* of conne* tine curselvi s with 
the party supporting General Jackson, and the necessity vve 
should then find ourselves under of uphol dng this attomina- 
ble doctrine, can ever h ad us to subscribe to if. Far be it 
from us to rais , in wantoiin ss, th** mantle which this doc¬ 
trine so conveniently hangs over the private character of 
General Jackson. I is surely no gratification to us to ex¬ 
pose the vices of a man f r whose public service we enter¬ 
tain sneh a strong an*l abiding gratitude ; and thereby, also, 
to pwblisfi the weak moral sense of tho<e of our countrymen 
' who can overlook these sevices in their admiration of martial 
glory. Nevertheless, if there be an occa.siou for the neces- 
I eary performanc of t is duty—if t ^e cause of virtue and she 
I gf eat inteiests of our country require the discharge of it— 
f we must not shrink from it. And does not such an uccasion 
I iiowexist? Does not the nomination of Geneial Jack.son 
I fir tlie Presidency—nis pretensions to an honor which the 
American people have never yet permitted tlie hand.s of an 
unpiincipled, vicious man to sully, create this occasion? 

I And vvould it not Ire a gross dereliction of duty ? Would it 

I not be. at best, the forbearance of a spurious' charity, to 
pass ovei tiie Genera’s private ch.iracter, and to declioe the 
exaini -lation <>f it, noder all the strong reasons that d* maod 
sucii an esamiiiatioo ? Of f.his character we have carelully 
iiifoimed uur.selres—and diii the limits set to tlie length of 
this pap’-r t ermit us, we w..uld dtM.nil to you some of the 
vices which make it so eminently disgusting and sickening 
to virtuous seu.sibilify. Tne most {iromisient and horrible 
feature in that character is tlic General’s l evengefnl spirit— 
so easy of ])rovocati >n—so fr-vpt utlj unappeasable, buT by 



blood alone. We will detain you with an account of but. 
one of the crimes that stain Gen. Jackson’s priv.ite life. We 
do not select this because it is the most fl igiant in the lon^ 
catalogue of them—for Uuly it is not—but because the proof 
of it is so clear that his warmest partisans do not presume 
to controvert it; and becau>e, too, it belongs to that clo.SS «rt 
Gen. Jackson’s offences whicli peculittriy illustfates his 
bold contempt of all human and divine restraints, and ti»e 
monstrousness of choosing such a man to be the chief con¬ 
servator and administrator of our laws. 

In the year 1813, General J'ackson made an attempt on 
the life o» Col. Benton, now a Senator of the United States. 
We prefer giving you Col. Benton’s own account of it, both 
because his name is suflicient authority for the truth of it, 
and because not a particle of that account has been gain- 
sayed, although it has been repeatedly published, in every 
part of the Union. 

“Franklin, (Ten.) Sept. 10, 1813. 

“A difft-rence which had been for some months brewing 
between Gen. Jackson and myself, produced on Saturday 
the 4th inst. in the cown of Nashville, the most outrageous 
affray > ver witnessed in a civilized country. In communi¬ 
cating this affair to my friends and fellow citizens, I limit 
myself to the statement of a few leading facts, the truth of, 
which 1 am ready to establish by Judicial proofs- 

“1. That myself and my brother Jesse Benton, arrived in 
Nashville on the morning of the affray and knowing of 
Gen. Jackson’s threats, went and took our lodgings in a dif¬ 
ferent house from the one in which he stayed, oa purpose to 
avoid him. 

“2. That the General and some of his friends came to the 
house where we put up, commenced the attack by levelling 
a pistol at me, when 1 had no weapon drawn, and advanc- 
ing upon me at quick pace, without giving me time to draw 
one. 

“3. That seeing this, my brother fired upon Gen. Jack- 
son, when he had got within 8 or 10 feet of me. 

“4. That four pistols were fired in quick succession; one 
by Gen. Jackson at mp, two by me at the General, and one 
by Col C'.ffee at me. In the course of this firing, General 
-Jackson was broug. t to the ground, but 1 received no hurt. 

“5. That daggers were then drawn. Colonel Coffee and 
Mr. Alexander Donaldson made at me and gave me five 
slight w’ouiids. Captain Hammond and Mr Stukely Hays 
engaged my brother, who being still weak from the effect 
of a severe wound he had lately received in a duel, was not 
able to resist two men. They got him down, and while 
Capt Hamm <nd b at him on the head to make him lay still, 
Mr, Hays attempted to .stab him, and wounded him in both 


arms as he lay on his back, parryinp his thrusts with hi5 
naked hands. From this situation, a g’enerous hearted citi* 
zen of Nashville, Mr. Summer, relieved him. Before he 
came to the ground, my brother clapped a loaded pistol to 
the breast of Mr. Hays, to blow him through, but it missed 
fire. 

“6. My own and ray brother’s pistols carried two balls 
each; for it was our intention, if driven to arms, to have no 
child’s play. The pistols fired at me were so near that tht;. 
blaze of the muzzle of one of th» m burnt the sleeve of my 
coat, and the other aimed at my head, at a little more that, 
arm’s length from it. 

“7. Captain Carrol was to have taken part in the afiVay. 
but w'as absent by the permission of Gen. Jackson, as he 
has since proved by the General’s certificate: a certificate, 
which reflects less honor, I know not whether upon the Gen- 
•ral, or upon the Captain. 

“8. That this attack was made upon me in the house where 
the Judge of the District, Mr. Searcy, had his lo«lgings ! 
So little are the laws and its ministers lespected ! Nor has 
the civil authority yet taken cognisance of this horrible out¬ 
rage. THOMAS HART BENTON, 

Lieut. Col. 39th Infantry.” 

We leave this transaction, to speak for itself. We leaTe 
• it to you to conclude on the propriety of raising to the high¬ 
est office in the nation the man, who, if he had committed 
his ofiences in your own state or in any other state where 
the laws are enforced, would have been doomed to expiate 
them in a punishment certainly no less than imprisonment. 

We will quit the private character of G- n. Jackson, to ex¬ 
hibit the entire correspondence of his official acts with the 
depraved moral tone of it; and this we will do by a brief 
allusion to some of the facts with which the reading public 
is already familiar. 

In the spring of 1814, the General led his army to subdue 
the Creek Indians. On the 27th March he discovered about 
one thousand of them in their village in the bend of the 
Tallapoosie with the squaws and children “running about 
among the huts.” In his letter the next day to Gen Pinck¬ 
ney, he gives the following account of his slaughter of them: 
“Determining to exterminate them, I detaclied Gen. Coffee 
with the mounted men and nearly the whole of the Indian 
force, early in the morning of yesterday, to cross the river 
about two miles below the encampment, and to surround 
the bend in such a manner as that none of them should es- 
uape, by attempting to cross the river.” The result he de¬ 
tails as follows: Five hundred and fifty seveio were left oead 
on the peninsula, and a great number rvete killed by the 


Borsemeu, in aHeiiipting to cross flie river. .It is b<-Ucve4 
that no more than fen had escajied .”—"Wt continued,” he 
Qilds, ”fo destroy many of them who Inul concealed fheiii- 
selves under the banks i)f the rive-, u til we were prevented 
by the night. This morning we killed sistcen, wtiich had 
been conceu’ed.” 

What we have said and shown of Gen. Jackson’s private 
life proves that his vindictive temper can easily persuade 
him of tilt; necetsily of taking up witii nothing le.ss than tt'C 
lives of ail his enemies. It is that temper, ai>d not anv ne¬ 
cessity i;i the circumstance of tlie cnse, wliicii I d him .(& 
sliock humanity in the instance before us—to violate the 
rules of warfare adopted by the civilized w orhi, and to fix 
an indelible .stain on the cha-acter of thw chii,stia ■ natknw 
In his letter to Gen. Pinckney Ire gives no more signs of re¬ 
gret at tiie horrid wa^te of life authorized by him, thaa 
thoug.'he was describing the victor ics‘-f a wolf or treat* 
hunt. And yet tlrese wretched victims of bis ext<^rminatiiig' 
wratii, whom he butchered with all the deli^lit be.trayed ita 
■the exulting spirit of his letter, Including inipv»tent age, de- 
/eucehss females, Irelploss infmcy— and the liandlul wir® 
survived the general massacre, but to behunterl down and 
murdered in coo! bloorl tlie following day—all th^ se were 
immortal beings like himself.—liaving interests at slake, ai» 
great and jrn'cious as his own;—moreover, they were Itrdi- 
atrs—and by a tlroii.saod corrsid rations, having tto less 
claims, surrdy, on this account, to the i’oi bear unco and cle¬ 
mency of Americans. 

The pamphlet, coirt lining the o'fGcial acconnt of tire trials 
at d convictions, by a court inai tiai, and cor responding seit- 
tcnces In* Gen. Ja*tksotr of b twi-en oi.eand two huudrt-d of 
the Militiamen ot Tetrnessec, has obtairted a general circula- 
■tioa. Every freeman in the Uuiteri States should be familiar 
with it.s couterris, that he may kuow,ihat the crime for woica 
this large nunilrer of his fellow citizens strfieted, was their 
ioterpreiing the- laws of their country to r< quire but three 
instead ot the six months service deiiiarrdt d of them;— a 
very small offence cer tainly, even had their construction of 
tire laws been erroneous, to be visited vvitli so severe a pun¬ 
ishment 1 But does not a candid examination of these laws 
lead to the inevitable conclusion, that the militiamen inter¬ 
preted them correctly, and that tlrey wer e free to return to 
their homes, after a service of tlrree morrti.s? The execu¬ 
tion of six of these brave men, and the disgraceful punish¬ 
ment suffiered by the oiliers, (to the soldierly spirit of many 
of them, more trying no doubt, than death itself) furnish a 
striking example of the cheapness in which General Jack- 
sun holds the rights and happiness, and lives of his couiitiy- 
Let every freeman, when he lius Crtudidif esamiuefll 


25 


tills transacti on, and particularly the merciless part of Gen. 
Jackson in it, ask himself, w hether it is desirable to have 
him made President of the United States, and thereby Com¬ 
mander in Chief of the iViilitia of the Union A case hkcr 
he present one makes a strong appeal to thi ciiaracteristic 
tenderness and mercy of A .'eiicans Where is the tnan, 
who had he witnessed t: is execution of six of his country¬ 
men—one of them a Minister of Him wh . said, “Blessed 
are the merciful,” and another of them a favorite son of a 
soldier who served undm Washington—but would have re¬ 
sponded to the sentiment of one of th spectators of this 
scene, “(hat he ould not have onj istly and unnecessarily 
signed their death warrant for all the rvealth of all the 
Indies 

But the tyrant is not to be se- n in his full proporti ns, 
unless his power b' absolute, and his circumstances allow 
him sufficient scope for the exercise of it. Such a power 
Gen. Jackson assumed in New Orleans; and there, too, he 
could make abumiant occasions for the use of it The reign 
of terror in New Orleans bet^ao tne 16th December, 1614. 
On that day went forth the decree that the sovereignty of 
Louisiana w’as vested in Andrew Jackson; and that his 
arbitrary will was substi'utud for t'iC legislative, executive, 
end judicial powers, which constiiut d t^at sovereignty. He 
proclaimed “martial law;” and as we have stated and 
shown it to be with-offences against Andrew Jackson, so life 
alone could atone foi the violation of its pettiest requisitions: 
He established a curfew ; and the citizens, who weie found 
from their homt-s, atier 9 o’d ck, were iiietamorptioscd by 
his decree into spiest they were to be con lemned to death 
by a military court, from whose sentence there was no 
appeal, save to himself, who st 'od in the place of the anni¬ 
hilated laws,—and to whose vampy re spirit all petitions to 
spare the shedding of blood would indeed ave been hope¬ 
less : for when has Gen. Jackson shown mercy ? 

He did not delay to disperse the members of the Legisla¬ 
ture by an armed force, and, with such a force to take 
possession of their hall. He arrested the Governor ; di agged 
him through the streets under military guard—and even 
threatened to hang him when he should next incur his 
displeasure. He imprisoned Louallii r, one of the most 
respectable members of the Legislatui**, JaiJug to call io. 
question the propriety of his »'’*•»—esp^-cially his banish¬ 
ment erf iiic F'rpnr^h Cons'*t and his Country men, and that, 
too, long after the disappearance of the enemy On the 
5th day of March, and now near two months after the 
retreat of the enemy and two weeks after the nf ws of peace, 
the counsel of ib still imprisone'l Louallier applied to Judge 
Hall for & writ gf Habea3 Cor^rus. He granted it^ as the 
c 


ilatui'e of his office compelled him to do. But there War' 
one portion of our country not yet blessed with returning' 
peace. Tyranny still overshadowed Louisiana: There was 
stiil a hand of oppression upon her, heavier by far than 
America ever felt in the severest periods of her Colonial 
servitude. Jackson was still there in his omnipotence, 
notwithstanding the restoration of peace had shut out all 
excuses for protracting his reign. The monster that had 
swallowed up the civil powers of the State, had not yet 
disgorged them. The spirit which boasted to Governoa: 
Claiborne, that “ whilst ‘ martial law’ continued, no man 
should be above him,” was not the spirit to. hasten the re* 
peal of that law. Judge Hall now found that he was pre¬ 
mature in resuming the functions of his office. For this 
recognition of the laws, and for the sin against Jackson— 
XhQ crimtn laesae majestaiis ,^'—involved in it, the Judge 
was dragged from his home by a party of soldiers, and 
confined in the bacracks. Judge Lewis, who had so fougtit 
in defence of the city, as to be commended in the general 
orders, granted, on the application of the District Attorney, 
who had evinced his patriotism in a similar manner, a writ 
df Habeas Corpus, in behalf of Judge Hall. For this 
instance of their compliance with the laws, and compassion 
for their honorable fellow citizens, these unfortunate gentle¬ 
men were arrested as Traitors. 

Did you need further illustrations of the character of Gen. 
Jackson at New Oilcans, we might refer you to his abridg¬ 
ment of the freedom of the press and his subjection of it to 
a military censorship. In this instance, as well as in his 
suspension, after the enemy had left our shores, of the writ 
of Habeas Corpus, which is the gre t security of the citizen 
against arbitrary power, he not only acted in contempt of 
all law, but actually transcendc«i the powers of the supreme 
Legislature of the land. Congress itself cannot shackle the 
press. Congress itself, when there is neither “ rebellion 
nor invasion,” cannot suspend the writ of Habeas Corpus. 

That we have not misconstrued the tyranical acts of Gen. 
Jackson, at New Orleans, may be argued pretty strongly 
from the light in which they are viewed by the people of 
Louisiana. The brilliant services which he rendered there, 
and which alone are relied on to uphold his pretensions to 
the Presidency, eaanot redeem him from the hatred of his 
tyranny, which still pervades that whole State : Nor can 
efforts to win the vote of thai to the avail any 

thing.. They will all prove as abortive as did the pageantry 
got up the last winter at New Orleans for that singb pur¬ 
pose. The presence of Gen. Jackson am>mgst the Louisia* 
nians, will never fail, indeed, to revive their grateful sens^ 


^nse the recollection of their deep injuries at his hands.— 
The people of Louisiana cannot forget ais inhuin't r treat¬ 
ment of their worthiest citizens—his still more to ne regret¬ 
ted treatment of their laws and eoverom«;nt. If they nave 
reasons to “ love Caesar much’'—yet do thf.y remember, 
that they have reasons to “ love Rome more.” 

There is n i end to the illustrations of General Jackson’s 
tyranny. His letter to Mr. Campbell, in which he threatens 
to burn up the Government Agent in the Agency house, 
breathes the spirit of the man, and shows that his unrestrain¬ 
ed will is the only rule of his actions. The tyrant was con¬ 
spicuous, when he dir.cted his officers to receive no orders 
from the War Department, unless they came through him¬ 
self: and thus usurped, in time of p'eace, the absolute con¬ 
trol of the armies that were under him. Nor do the annals 
of any country, under a government of laws, exhibit a more 
striking instance of lawless tyranny, than General Jackson 
was guilty of, in his invasion of Florida. He not only made 
war on that neutral country upon lis own responsibility, 
and in contempt of the prerogative of Congress, but he did 
ao in opposition to the express orders of the Secretary of 
War. His reluctance to comply with the prompt measures 
of oui goveiDinent, to restore the violated territory, is very 
apparent, from his letter to the Secretary of War, whereia 
he offers “ to pledge his life upon defending the country 
from St. Mary’s to the Barrataire, against all the machina¬ 
tions and attacks of the Holy Alliance, and combined Eu¬ 
rope.” How clearly does this language show the utter 
insensibility of the General to t’ e obligations of justice and 
law, upon the intercourse of nations! How completely 
does it come up to the tyrant’s maxim, that ” might begets 
right!” And whence can we draw the leasonable hope, 
that General Jackson would not carry this same spirit into 
the Presidency, and seek to infnse it into tht councils of the 
nation? Then might our country cease to adju.st her diffi- 
cullies with other nations, on the printipb’S of international 
law. Our military President would be like to guide his 
decisions in such difficulties, much more by n ferences to his 
military forces, than to the pages of Vattel or Grotius.— 
H» would leave it to the pusillanimous patience of kiiigs to 
make war the last resort. But, with him, the sword should 
iegin, as well as tnd the argument. 

The point of view in which Madison was an exc< ptiona- 
ble President to General Jackson—his horrid objection lo 
that venerable and beloved man, “that he could not look 
with composure on scenes of blood and carnage,” ascer¬ 
tains, with sufficient clewi'ness, the General’s sense of toe 
qualifications and duties of a President.. May the day be 
very distant before the spirit of the People of the Fnited 


28 


Stat^^s will become'90 much »he spirit of Pirates and Barba 
rians, as'to sanction such an objection to a President. 

Before entering on the investigation of General .lackson's 
life, we showed, that, in the opinions former!}' enteriained 
of him by the pre^ellt lead'is of his party, tie is a lawless 
and Cl uel lyrant. Read these opinion.^ again, fellow citizens, 
and see, whetner the correctness of them is established by 
the Geneial’s life. VVe do not wish you to accor<l with the 
opinions of his shamelessly incoi.sistent advocates, that he 
is this lawli ss and cruel tyrant —unless, view« d through the 
medium of his crimes, he presents him-eif distinctly to you 
in such a ci aracter. VVe are aware that sophistry has em 
jiloyed her utmost ingenuity to strip his offences of their 
heiiiousness, and that military spl ndor “ hides a multi* 
fade of sins,” as well fiom the admiiers of General .lackson. 
as it did Iroin the admirers of Bona. aite. On every hand, 
loo, do we hear the (lartisans of the Gen* rai invoking cha¬ 
rity to spread her soft colorin<s over his misde-ds ; and how 
powerfully does the gratitude of our hearts tempt us to look" 
away from thi m, and t • be silent about them! Y t, we aslt 
you, <an au impa. tiai and candid examinat on oflhe offences 
of Geneial J cksou make any thing less of t'.em than, but 
loi:r years since, the b aders of his own party did ? And 
we pot the lurthei and suli mure momentous question to 
you, w ueth.-r a man, ho is decided by you to t*e guilty of 
such offences, snail be mahe Pr sideni of «he United 2 tat's ? 
Shrtll th»* hand of sucu a man be permitted to grasp «uat 
power whicti, l itheito, you have confided to viitue and 
learning alone ? Surely, fellow citiz ns, no good can c une 
of such a chang. : And whatevei cuauge io the .\dmi istra* 
tion of our Goveium nt you iiia^ desire, it is not the one 
proposed to you by the advocates of Gein^ral Jackson ;—it 
is “ least of all, sui h change as they would bring” you. 

VVe have, said, that th nomi ation of Geneial .Jackson is 
a mer*'expedient employed to pull riow nth- Administia- 
tion, by those w o thiist to possess its power; ami that it 
is inconsistent wit.u the former de larations of i is leading 
partisans, seme of which we have cited, to suppose that it 
could have proceeded, in any degree, from a sense of his 
fitness to be President, or in any degr-e tiom feelings of 
kindni ss to him, or de.vire to honor him. Sur- ly, it is not 
from kindness to General Jackson, that his cnaracter, .so 
peculiarly vi< iou< and vulneiable, is compelled to pa.ss that 
sev. re orkeal of pu'dii. sc utiny. wrticli every former candi¬ 
date for thf Piestdency i>as been subjoi ten to, and vvhicii no 
future candidate for this office can esi ape from, un il the 
Peopl of the UnitCil State? have ceased to feel th precious 
ness of fheir poli leal i'lst'tutiuns, a d have becon.e ripe for 
treason to the cause of libeity. JNur tan it be to honor Ge- 


29 

neralJackson, that his partisans are seeking to raise liim lo 
an office where the infiiinities of his temper would be mo t 
conspicuous, and whei e his incompetence to civil emjiloy- 
ment would no less disgrace himself than endanger the fit- 
public. We disclaim all ill will towards General Jackson. 
We would not pluck one leaf from his brilliant chaplet. We 
would " render unto Ctesar all the things that are Caesar’s.” 
If our exhibitions of his character savor of ill will towards 
him, let it be remembered, that the relation in which Geo. 
Jackson’s nomination places him towards his country, re¬ 
quire this painful duty of us ; and that it i.s not we who have 
discharged thi' patriotic and imperious duty, but they who 
have encouraged him to assume such relation, that arc rc- 
■spo.tsible for all the unhapjry consequences of it—as well 
those to himself, as those to his country. It would have 
gratified some of the sincerest wishes of our hearts to have 
had GeneralJackson spend the evening of his life in peace; 
to have had all his virtu'^s, and not one of his faults, recorded 
on the page of history ; to have had him live forever in the 
remembrance of his glorious benefactions to liis country. 
But these wishes are disappointed. General Jackson ha.s 
listened to evH counsels, and sacrificed hi.s reputation. Cie- 
y gar, in the service of the Roman Republic—Napoleon, in 
the service of the French Republic, acquired claims to 
everlasting gratitude—to immortal honors; but, when it was 
no longer their countries, but themselves they served—when 
tlieir pairintism had degenerated into selfishness, and their 
ambition had prostituted the very fame they had acrjuired 
in the service of their countries into an engine for accom¬ 
plishing the usurpation of their countries liberties, they for¬ 
feited these claims, and fell into infamy. General Jackson, 
by a similar process, is bringing a similar fate upon himself. 
Having served his country gloriously, his ambition, like 
theirs, aspires to honors which do not belong to him, and 
which hi* country could not yield to him, without hazarding 
her all. Like them, too, he relies for these honors on the 
frenzied devotion of the popular mind to military splendor. 
And, if he would not, like them, resort to the sword to make 
sure of these honors, yet the weapons of hypocrisy and ca¬ 
lumny, which he so freely employs to effectuate his object— 
his electioneering calumniations of our most estimable and 
honored citizens, and his Cromwell affectations of holy 
purity, are scarcely less reproachful and less fatal to him¬ 
self, if they be less dangerous to his country. 

Fellow citizens, our reasons for asking you to contribute 
to the re-election of Mr. Adams are now before you. Suffi¬ 
cient, as they must be, to all, who are open to conviction, 
we are yet aware that there is a portion of you with whom 
Riey will avail nothing. Enough has already transpired to 
c* 




30 


u 3 that they, who have brought fi)rwar<l the name of 
Ainiretv Jack«on, dm not leckoo exiiavHganfly on the 
the charms of that name:—nor .ii they f.il t foresee that 
the quiet, p!ai and unimposing life of Mr Adams was but 
poorly suited to oppose tlie Hero of >ew Orlea s, in minds 
susceptible of the fascinations of military gl ry. These 
fascinations have seized on thousands o the lec ors of our 
State, a id to flatter ourselves that they can be easily or 
universally dispelled would be presuming too t'ar against 
our own experience, and the instruitions of history 

Bui the victims of this military frenzy are not the only 
poition of ou» electors to « liooi we address our arguments 
in vain. We have in this State a stdl m re hopeless class 
ofvotets—we m. a ’ those whose snlTra. es are wayed by 
the force of obsolete parly nanivs The poliiicia s wh • so 
dextt rously contrive and apply this force, as to reduce try it 
many of the freem'-n of our State to the most disgrac-ful 
bondage, are a well known Jew. Their system of operations 
is despoiic to the last degree—for it t lerates no iVeedo.ii 
of thought—no ind< p M drnce of a'tiun. They style them¬ 
selves “ The Republican party.” To comply with the edicts 
of this little band is to meiit the name of a “ Republican.” 

To dare to resist them is to be registered a “ Federalist.” 
And this.disiinction of names they cause to be poweifully 
feit thioughout the State, by making the popului one a pass¬ 
port to political favors, and by refusing to perceive any fit¬ 
ness for office under the odiousness of the other. 

They’ attempt to drive the people of this State info the 
suppoit of General Jackson by , romising th-app llation 
and favor of “ a Republican” to him who will vote for the 
General, and by denouncing the stigma and woes, of 
federalism” against tfie man who ventures iodopendehce 
enough to oppose him. No matter whether the voter 
has just arrived at manhood—has never before heard of the 
name of Federalist, and is ignorant that there ever existed * 
a ” Fepeial Party”—still, if he is unable to overcome t'le 
revoltings of his conscience at the support of Ge ei al Jack- 
son, he must be branded with the name of (hat defeated, ex¬ 
tinct, and consequently unpopular party. No matter if he 
have lived fourscore years—had fought to achieve the ind -- 
pendence of his country, and had served in the ranks of the 
"Republican party” from its beginnings to its final tri¬ 
umphs—yet, if he refuse to vote for General Jackson, his 
gray hairs, and his patriotic services, cannot pio ect him 
from this reproachful epithet. 

The inconsistencies of this arbitrary system are as amus- 
MJg as they are. shameless. For instance—the same Andrew 
Jackson, whose support it now makes ihe exclusive test of 
"Republicemism,” has been a "Federalist” under it. A 


31 


deference to the files of the>prominent Jackson newspaperi* 
in our Slate shows that the system has ie([uired tliis stigma 
to be cast on him also. Indped. a litilv observation will 
discover, t at as often as periods o!' five and six vears, this 
ar ilrary sv*teiu will transform nearly dl the old “ Repub¬ 
licans’'of the State into Federalisis. and nearly all theold 
Federalists into Repu .l eans The Albany Ai gus is annn'g 
the newspapers her* referred t.>, and has sue. paragraphs ia 
its (;otu.nns about General Jackson’s Federalism as the fol- 
1 iwing: 

“ The frtCtis clear that Mr. J.nckson has not a single feel» - 
ingin common with th R^^piiblican party. The reverse' 
of that ; he desires a d niak.*s a merit of desiring the total 
exiinefion of it. It is an idle thi >g in this State, however 
it may be in oih* is, to strive eve for a mode:ate support of 
Alt .Jackson. He »s wlioilv out oi the qn stioti, so far as 
the votes'of Nevv York are coocerned in it. Independently 
of the dtS'Uoinres of his politi'al opinions, he could uot be 
t e ca.olidate. 

“ The c.-nr-e ad(>pt*‘d by Mr .Iiick'«on is food and raiment 
for the federalist and tlie no pa' tyinen. It is pleasant to 
/ all w'ho strive for the destruction of tlie demo*.rati; party. 
They will every w h're Hp,daiid it as they have preached it; 
a- d will in .ffnif'v the anthor of doctrines which ate so well 
intended for their service 

“'flipy piofessto lie republicans, and yet they support a 
man (General Jackso ■) who is iiiiown t • have been alvvays 
?i federalist —they profess to be fr ends of the People, and 
yet, in Tennes-.Pe, as i<i New Vork,ih*»y have always resis- 
f-d the equal an 1 just ights of the p- opie, and t,l>e e.'tiension 
of their pi ivileg’^s, which ore most valuable to ih<'m. It is 
the duty of every republican foetpos*' these confradicti'uts 
and inconsistencies of con iiict and piofession ; and, as far 
as possible, counteract the piirpns* s thr*y at e imlebted to 
answer, namely, the prostration of the leputdicati paiiy.tiie 
subversion of the real interests oft-he people, a -d iho el. va- 
tion of the old aristi ocrccy, and the disappoi.rted uneosy- 
men of all parties ” 

If may be well to add, that the .same General Jackson, 
who is now the exclusively republican camlidaie is the 
gentleman who .advise Mr. Monroe to negl* ct oM party 
rfistinctions, and to appoint Col. Drayton, a decideil feder¬ 
alist, Secretary of War. 

VVe have dwelt long enough on the meri»s of this system 
to show you the sincerity and value of all the pralings and 
canrings about the “ Republic n Party,’* which crowd the 
columns of our Jackson i.apeis, and make ih‘m so nauseous 
to men of sense and candor. Such nsen will need betti? 



32 


^vi^ences than these papers furnish to certify themselves oi 
Cei.eial Jh> ks n’s r< publicanisin ;—nor will they look inta 
th*‘.«.'> palmers, Conducted, as th^ir columns ampTy tt stify, on 
8 svstem of u principled expeiliency, for the political cha¬ 
rade* f Mr, Ad a. as 1 hey prefer to form their opinions 
of charac ei, bv looking af the life itself cf Mr, Adains^ 
and iiy examining those evidences of his republicanism^ 
which sathtied toe scrutiny of Wa.shington, Jefferson, Ma¬ 
dison and Mwiiroe, when they successively called him to 
ren'^ei signal services to the Repablie. 

Oi^ >ou, fellow citizens, who do not fall in either class of 
the electors we ave described ;—who are capable of look¬ 
ing at Gen-ral Jackson himself througli all the glare which 
his military aclnev< meats have spread around him—and 
who will lioi permit any party to shackle your indepen¬ 
dence and CO* trol your votes *—on you it depends wiiet ier 
t e S'ate of New York snail contribute to re elect the ac- 
coM.piishi'd Stai‘-smaii, who now presides over the nation, 
or to :ii<place him bv a military chieftain. On you does it 
di'p nds in no small d gree, whether thi* blessings tliat flow' 
from the piesent Administration; from its fostering • are of 
th- institutions of religion and learning—of t.’ie great sour¬ 
ces of national w- altli and prosperity—of all the objects, in 
short, which stand in prominent connexion with the public 
goo/1 ;—on you does it much depend, whether these bles¬ 
sings shall be prolonged to u», or whether they shall be 
surrendered for the uncertain frnita of a policy of govern¬ 
ment suited to the taste and spirit of Andrew Jackson. 
These clessings are great ;—and if we suffer prudence to 
Ciiunsel us, we shall not consent to put them to hazard for 
the most flattering change—1 ast of all for any advantages 
that could accrue to the Republic from the Presidency of 
General Jackson, after all the te. rifle earnests he has affor¬ 
ded of the temper in which he would ex* rcise its power. 

Fellow citizens, the present unsettled state of the world, 
if it afford hope to the cause j)f liberty, yet is it also full of 
peril to it. It is no time now to he making expeiiments in 
this iioly cause—but most emphatically the time “ to 
stand in the ways, to see and ask for the old paths: where 
is t- e good way” m which our fathers and ourselves have 
fouiui safety. If the peo}iIe <>f this country, which is the 
happiest, by far, that he sun ever shone upon—if they are 
so w aried with the sameness of their prosperity, and so 
cloyed by iis fulness, as to insist on a change—if, utoreover, 
that chant;e must be nothing short of leavening our national 
councils with a military spirit, ao i communicating its irre¬ 
gular and nncontrollable impulses to our fee institutions— 
let them at least delay this gratification until less hazard 
Ihtdi attend its indulgence. To demand it now might be at 



S3 


nothing 1?S8 th&n the immediate price of freedom. An un^ 
Sdccessful exp>Time(tt that we should make in the cause of 
liberty, at this juncture—a single calamity that she should 
now snfler at the hands of her chosen protectors, might be 
the signal to her enemies to complete her destruction. And 
let not the friends of liberty presume too far upon titeir 
strength. Th»y are not yet so numerous that they may be 
careless with impunity, and advetiturous wfthout darner. 
Contrasted with the myriads, that despots can muster 
against us, we are still a little band—and to what portions of 
the eanh do we raise our hopes for accessions? Freedom 
does yet, indeed, hold out her struggles for existence in 
Greece: hut have not the many hopeful risings of her spirit, 
in other parts of continental Europe, all sunk under the 
leaden 8>vay of despotism ? Uo w« look to the Southern 
half of O'lr own hemisphere for her better prospects? They 
are blij.-hted there too The valleys theie tJiat but so lately 
rung with her chi- fnl voice, and th mountains that echoed 
the ongs of hei i- u iphs, resound now with the murmurings 
of tie« unquietness and the sbrievtings of her despair. 

Our own happy country still remains the only home of 
Freedom. If she is a s ih d here, we are her only protec¬ 
tors—if she is betrayed here, sh-* is lost to the whole world. 
lVl.»y the Good B *ing, who conduc ed h r to our shores from 
uiuversal per«ecutioii, teach us how to < herish a d preserve 
her—and to Him may we look to protect her fiom the dan¬ 
gers of that freiizi d military spii itto which she has so often 
fall> n a victim; and ihe /agint- contagion oi which novtt 
tf.reatcns to kin ile her Inner 1 pile—even in her last abode 
—in this chosen land of her asylum. 

After the adoption of the preceding Address and 
Resolutions, the following wds also unanimously 
adopted : 

Resolved, That it he recommended to the people of this 
State, friendly to t e Natio al Admi istration,to appoint, in 
the s veial CO inties, del gates equal to the number of their 
respective members of Assembly, to meet in Convention at 
Utica, on the twenty-third day of July next, to nomi- ate suit 
able candidates for Govoruar and JLitulenanl Governor. 









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